114 ASCLEPIADEE. 
Gussoneàna, Jacq. ex bot. reg. t. 1731. 
striped with brown, and tipped with purple. 
Gussone's Piaranthus. Fl. Ju. Jul. Clt. 1832. Shrub 4 foot. 
6 P. a’r1pus; branches numerous, erect, tetragonal, florife- 
rous at top: with spreading, acute teeth; pedicels solitary ; 
segments of corolla flat, ovate-lanceolate, setaceously ciliated at 
top; bottom of corolla circular. h.S. Native of the Cape of 
Good Hope, in the dry desert called Karro. Stapélia árida, 
Mass. stap. p. 21. t. 33.  Corollas size of those of Cynánchum 
vincetóxicum, pale yellow, with a yellow, circular bottom, white 
corona: having the segments dotted at the base, and pilose at 
the apex, ex Willd. Teeth of branches curved, similar to spines. 
Arid Piaranthus. Fl. Aug. Clt. 1795. Shrub 1 foot. 
7 P.1ixcARNA' TUS ; branches erect, tetragonal: with spreading, 
acute teeth; flowers aggregate, almost sessile; segments of 
corolla narrow, flat, acute, ex Mass., obtuse, ex Thunb. h. S. 
Native of the Cape of Good Hope, in Saldanha Bay. Stapélia 
incarnàta, Lin. suppl. p. 171. Thunb. prod. 1. p. 46. fl. cap. 
2. p. 167. Mass. stap. p. 22. t. 44.— Burm. afr. p. 15. t. 7. f. 
l. Pedicels rising, as in other species, from the angles beyond 
the teeth. The herb is eaten by the Hottentots, ex Lin. 
Flowers small, flesh-coloured, size of those of Stapélia pilifera. 
Corona covering the gynostegium, with a greenish margin, of 5 
yellow, erect, bifid segments, and other 5 linear, inflexed ones, 
in the centre, ex Thunb. 
Var. B, albus (Mass. stap. 1. c.) flowers white. 
Flesh-coloured-flowered Piaranthus. Fl. April Aug. Clt. 
1793. Shrub 1 foot. 
8 P. wxaAMuiILA RIS; branches hexagonal, bearing the flowers 
in the middle: furnished with spine-like, recurved tubercles ; 
pedicels shorter than the flowers; corolla glabrous; segments 
lanceolate, with revolute edges. h.S. Native of the Cape of 
Good Hope, on rocks, about Olifant's river; and towards the 
north, near Hex river, in the Karro. Stapélia mammilaris, Lin. 
mant. p. 216. Thunb. prod. 1. p. 46. fl. cap. 2. p. 166.— 
Burm. afr. p. 27. t. 11. Pedicels usually by fours. 
Mammilary Piaranthus. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1774. Shrub. 
Cult. See Stapélia, p. 117, for culture and propagation. 
Corollas yellow, 
$ 2. Column of fructification, or gynostegium, exserted, or semi- 
exserted, appendiculate outside. Pollen masses pellucid on one 
of the margins. 
IV. STAPELIA (named by Linnezus, after Boderus a 
Stapel, a physician of Amsterdam, Commentator on Theophrastus, 
in 1644.) R. Br. in mem. wern. soc. 1. p. 23.—Stapélia species, 
Lin. and others. 
Lin. syst.  Pentándria, Digy'nia. Corolla rotate, 5-cleft, 
fleshy. Column of fructification exserted. Stamineous corona 
double; exterior one of 5 undivided leaflets; interior one of 5 
subulate leaflets. Anthers simple at top. Pollen masses fixed 
by the base, having one of the edges cartilaginous and pellucid. 
Stigma mutic. Follicles somewhat cylindrical, smooth, Seeds 
comose.— Fleshy, leafless, angular, usually tubercular plants, na- 
tives of south Africa, in the desert plains called Karro. Flowers 
for the most part showy, but with a nauseous, fetid odour. 
§ 1. Branches or stems alately tetragonal, downy. 
1 S. GRANDIFLORA (Mass. stap. p. 3. t. 11.) branches quadran- 
gular, clavate, downy ; tubercles or teeth remote ; corolla large, 
flattish : with ovate-lanceolate, acute segments, which are ci- 
liated on the edges. h. S. Native of the Cape of Good 
Hope. Haw. syn. p. 16. no. 1. Plant grey, from down. 
Peduncles 3-flowered. Corolla large, dark purple in the bot- 
tom ; but the segments are lighter purple, ciliated with grey 
hairs, and striped with white. 
Ill. PranANTHUS. 
IV. SrAPELIA. 
Great-flowered Stapelia. Clt. 1795. Shrub 
1 foot. 
2 S. sezcra’sitis (Haworth, syn. p. 16. no. 2.) branches 
tetragonal, downy; tubercles or teeth remote; segments of 
corolla ovate-lanceolate, furnished from the base behind the 
middle with dense red hairs, and having pale stripes on the 
upper surface, with black tips. h. S. Native of the Cape of 
Good Hope. Stapélia grandiflora, Curt. bot. mag. 585, exclu- 
sive of the synonyms. 
Shewy Stapelia. Fl. Nov. Jan. Clt. 1802. Shrub 1 foot. 
3 S. ampicua (Mass. stap. p. 13. t. 12. Haw. syn. p. 17.) 
branches erect, quadrangular, clavate; teeth remote, incurved ; 
corolla flat: with oblong-lanceolate, acute, hispid segments, which 
are ciliated on the edges ; leaflets of the inner corona cultriform, 
serrated on the back, and toothed at top; peduncles 3-4- 
flowered. kh. S. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. Jacq. 
stap. 35. Corolla size of those of S. hirsüta, of a rufous, purple 
colour, variegated with transverse, dark, violaceous stripes, having 
the edges of the segments of an obscure violet colour. 
Ambiguous Stapelia. Fl. June, Nov. Clt. 1795. 
to 2 feet. 
4 S. sonóntA (Mass. stap. p.23. t. 39. Jacq. stap. t. 22. 36, 37.) 
branches divaricate, quadrangular ; teeth remote, acute, incurved ; 
segments of corolla lanceolate, villous in the centre, and ciliated 
on the edges. h. S. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
Lodd. bot. cab. 94. Corolla dark purple, with yellow, trans- 
verse rug. According to Masson, this species differs from S. 
hirsüta, in habit; in the divaricate, 5-angled branches, which are 
said to be tetragonal at the top; in the drooping flowers ; and 
in the self-coloured corolla. Stem purplish. Peduncles simple, 
solitary, purple. 
Sister Stapelia. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1797. Shrub 1 foot. 
5 S. pa'ruta (Willd. enum. p. 281.) corolla flat, with vil- 
lously ciliated margins, and hairy disk, the rest wrinkled and 
glabrous; appendages of inner crown, oblong, lanceolate, one- 
toothed inside. b. S. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
Perhaps a variety of S. sorória. 
Spreading-flowered Stapelia. 
Shrub 1 foot. 
6 S. rerte’xa (Haw. syn. p. 18.) leaflets of inner corona 
sub-deltoid, having the interior process incurvedly claw-formed ; 
seat of style impressed with a cross. b. G. Native of the 
Cape of Good Hope. S. defléxa, Hort. Jacq. stap. t. 5. bot. 
mag. 1810. Very like the preceding, but one balf smaller. 
Corolla of a greenish-wine colour, with revolutely reflexed seg- 
ments; having transverse, waved, contiguous, whitish stripes at 
the middle ; and furnished with long purple hairs inside, towards 
the base. Ligule dusky, rufous, recurved, cuneated at apex. 
Reflexed Stapelia. Fl. June, Aug. Clt.? Shrub 4 foot. 
7 S. nv'cipa (D. C. cat. hort. monsp. 1816. p. 149.) branches 
erect, floriferous in the middle; teeth erect; segments of 
corola with pilose edges, ovate-acuminated, revolutely in- 
flexed, having the disks shining, and rather pilose; leaflets of 
outer corona oblong. k. S. Native of the Cape of Good 
Hope. This species is nearly allied to S. sorória, ambigua, 
and defléxa: from the first it differs, in the branches not being 
divaricate, but erect; in the peduncles being shorter than the 
corolla; in the wrinkles of the corolla not being yellowish ; and 
in the bottom not being villous: and from the second, to which 
it is more nearly allied, in the branches not bearing the flowers 
at their base, but in the middle; in the segments of the corolla 
not being flat; in the flowers being smaller, and of a deeper 
colour: and from the third, in the leaflets of outer corona, and 
in many other points. 
Shining-flowered Stapelia. 
Shrub 4 foot. 
Fl. Sept. Dec. 
Shrub 1 
Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1797. 
Fl. June, Aug. Cit. 1812. 
